


breaking out the L word

by Chesra



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-06
Updated: 2012-10-06
Packaged: 2017-11-15 18:09:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/530177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chesra/pseuds/Chesra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aomine wonders where Kuroko's newfound determination to learn shooting stems from. [spoilers for the manga until chapter 142.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	breaking out the L word

**Author's Note:**

> I have so many Kagami/Kuroko feels and THERE IS JUST NOT ENOUGH FIC OF THEM I MEAN COME ON GUYS THESE TWO ARE WHAT OTPs ARE MADE OF 
> 
> I wrote this while I was still reading the manga, so you can imagine it as part of the manga-verse. Though I've caught up by now and it can get a bit OOC at some parts.

Aomine never really knows what Kuroko is thinking. Suddenly calling him out in the middle of the night to ask him to teach Kuroko how to shoot? What sort of people do that?  
  
Still, this makes things between them almost normal again. Aomine won’t admit it, but he’s missed being with Tetsu. And he doesn’t mind teaching him. Since their match with Seirin, Aomine’s just itching to play basketball again.  
  
Aomine watches Kuroko shoot ball after ball. More than half the time he misses. The other half the ball hits the backboard, but it doesn’t go in. Aomine wonders if this is what despair looks like.  
  
Kuroko, on the other hand, just looks more determined. Well, whatever Kuroko lacks in talent he always makes up for it with hard work. Besides, Aomine knows if he watches Kuroko shoot enough times, he's going to figure out a way to actually increase Kuroko's shooting chances. There's something wrong with how Kuroko is shooting, even though his form is generally correct. Aomine just needs more time to think about it.  
  
“So,” Aomine says, after about five minutes of miserable shooting. “What’s with the sudden need to learn how to shoot?”  
  
“We face Yosen after tomorrow,” Kuroko says simply. “They’ll be tough.”  
  
“Yeah, well.” Aomine shrugs. “You’ve faced Kaijo and Shutoku and us, and I don’t think you tried to learn how to shoot by then.”  
  
“Shooting is important for my new drive,” Kuroko says.  
  
Aomine frowns. There’s something Kuroko’s not telling him, and he has a slight idea on what it might be. He’s been meaning to ask this of Kuroko ever since their first game against Seirin, but then they hadn’t been on friendly terms - which, okay, might be his fault but hell if he’s ever going to admit it to Tetsu. Plus Tetsu is nearly as stubborn as he is.  
  
“Hey, Tetsu-kun,” he says, not quite sure where to begin.  
  
“Yes, Aomine-kun?” Kuroko replies as he crouches down, ready to release the ball.  
  
He waits for Kuroko to jump before continuing his question. “Are you in love with Kagami?”  
  
Kuroko’s shot misses the basketball hoop by ten meters.  
  
Aomine raises an eyebrow. Wow. That is some really bad shooting.  
  
Kuroko goes to retrieve the ball. With his back turned to Aomine, he dribbles the ball. Aomine notes how tense he is. Kuroko might think his poker face could fool people, but not him.  
  
“Kagami-kun is a kind person,” Kuroko finally replies.  
  
“That doesn’t answer my question, stupid.” Aomine huffs. If Kuroko doesn’t want to talk about it, fine.  
  
Kuroko moves back to the free throw line, and releases the ball. It hits the hoop this time, but it still doesn’t go in.  
  
“Why do you ask, Aomine-kun?” Kuroko asks, after they watch the basketball bounce around the court.  
  
Aomine shrugs. “I’ve seen the way you look at him. I used to be your light, you know. And the way you look at him is definitely different from the way you look at _me_.”  
  
Kuroko goes to pick up the ball, jogging far away from him.  
  
“I-” Kuroko’s voice is so soft Aomine strains to hear the words with the distance between them, “ I am in love with Kagami-kun.”  
  
“What?”  
  
Kuroko picks up the ball. This time he turns and throws it to Aomine, who catches it easily. “You heard me,” he says. There’s a light blush on his pale face.  
  
“Hmm.” Aomine nods slowly. “Well, I guess I can’t say it’s entirely unexpected.” He passes the ball back to Kuroko.  
  
“Why do you say that?”  
  
“Well,” Aomine awkwardly scratches his head. “You needed a new light. Somebody to trust. It’s not strange to fall for someone you trust, right?”  
  
Kuroko shakes his head. “I wasn’t going to,” Kuroko says.  
  
“What?”  
  
“Fall in love,” he says, matter-of-factly. “I wanted -” he hesitates. “After I quit Teikou. I wanted to beat all of you.”  
  
“The Generation of Miracles, you mean?” Aomine says mildly.  
  
“Yes.” Kuroko grips the ball tightly. “Because of the way you think.”  
  
Aomine shrugs. “Everyone has reasons for wanting to win,” he says. “I don’t particularly care what your reasons are, as long as you have the drive to do it.”  
  
“But Kagami-kun isn’t like that at all,” Kuroko interrupts. “It’s not about just winning for him. He cares, a lot. Not just for me, but for the entire team. And he trusts me. Believes in me. He supports me in every way.”  
  
“I’ve never wanted to fall in love with anyone,” Kuroko says. “After Teikou, I hated basketball and I hated myself. It’s not good to like someone for selfish reasons. But Kagami-kun, he’s such a simple person. I couldn’t help it. He reminded me of you, a bit,” he says, in afterthought. Aomine stiffens at that.  
  
“I wasn’t in love with you, Aomine-kun,” Kuroko reassures him, though he’s smiling a little at him. “You were one of my first friends. You were very kind to me, and you were very inspiring to me. For the same reasons I liked Kagami-kun as a person, but falling in love with him, the reasons were entirely different.”  
  
“There was a time when I thought he lost faith in me,” he continues. “That he didn’t want to play basketball with me anymore. It was right after our first game with you. It hurt a lot. It was like getting my heart broken. I cried, not because we lost, but because I thought he thought I wasn’t good enough to be his shadow.”  
  
“He’s the one who’s not good enough to be your light,” Aomine says, bristling at the idea that Kuroko would ever think he wasn’t good enough.  
  
“No, you’re wrong.” Kuroko bites his lip. “I’m the weak one,” he admits. “I can’t do anything without other people’s strength. Other people would see me as a liability and cut me off as soon as they get stronger-” he smiles wryly at that. “But Kagami isn’t like that all.”  
  
“The only reason he chose to distance himself from me is because he knew we both had to get stronger. Individually, so together we could be better. He didn’t mean to leave me at all. When I learned all that, I think that’s the time I began to fall for him.”  
  
Kuroko clenches his fist. “When I realized that, I knew I had to be honest with him. When I told him the truth - that I just wanted to use him to beat you, he didn’t get mad at all. In fact, he seemed to understand.” Kuroko sighs. “I’m really lucky to have met him in Seirin. Otherwise, I might have gone back to hating basketball.”  
  
“Well, I don’t know about that, Tetsu,” Aomine says. He doubts Kuroko, with his intense passion for basketball, could ever fully hate the sport. “But he was incredible during our match.” He remembers the rush he had felt as he faced Kagami at the court.  
  
“During that game, when you blocked my drive then you caught my pass, I was so shocked I was close to breaking down. But when he told me that no effort of mine was useless, I realized that Kagami will always be there to catch me. He’s a real source of light for me.” Kuroko lets out a soft, audible sigh of happiness. “Just being with him makes me happy.”  
  
“Huh,” Aomine says. He’s never been in love, never wanted anyone the way Kuroko is describing Kagami with such fervor, so he can’t exactly relate.  
  
“He’s special,” Kuroko says, smiling in that soft way Aomine’s seen whenever he looks at Kagami. Aomine’s known Tetsu for years but he’s never seen him smile that way. Back in Teikou he had a pleasing, eager smile, bright and cheerful. But his smile for Kagami is quiet, hidden away in his eyes, like a secret only he knows.  
  
It's a wonder Kagami doesn’t know it. If he had someone looking at him that way -  
  
Well, there is one person. But Aomine knows the way that person looks at him isn’t admiration. Or if it is, it isn’t the same kind of admiration Tetsu has for Kagami.  
  
Aomine sighs loudly. “Have you told him?” He says, in an effort to distract himself from his own thoughts.  
  
Kuroko shakes his head.  
  
“I tried to confess once,” Kuroko admits quietly.  
  
Aomine blinks. “What did he say?”  
  
Kuroko moves to wipe his sweat away with his shirt. “I passed out,” he mutters.  
  
“What?!”  
  
“It wasn’t my fault,” Kuroko mumbles. “We were at his house - I was with the whole team,” he adds indignantly, as he sees Aomine’s knowing smirk. “We went there after the game to rest.”  
  
“So? What happened?”  
  
“I was talking to him at the balcony,” Kuroko continues. He’s not looking at Aomine now, just rolling the ball in his palm. “But before I could say it, I fainted. Apparently our coach put something funny in our dinner.”  
  
“Ah. So why didn’t you tell him the day after?”  
  
Kuroko shrugs. “There was a woman in his house,” he says, in a tone that means he’s trying not to sound affected but he totally is.  
  
Aomine tries to process what Kuroko said. “A woman?”  
  
“His teacher from America.” Kuroko sighs.  
  
Aomine makes a face. What. That doesn’t sound threatening at all. “So? She’s just his teacher.”  
  
“She kissed him.”  
  
“She what?”  
  
“On the lips,” Kuroko adds. He’s clutching the basketball really tightly now.  
  
Aomine pauses to make some mental calculations. “When did this happen again?”  
  
Kuroko fidgets. “Yesterday?” he says, not looking at Aomine’s eyes.  
  
Aomine stares at him as the little gears in his brain whirr and click. “Oh my god,” he says. “You’re doing this shooting thing to impress him. WHAT THE HELL, TETSU.”  
  
Kuroko’s giving him that irritated but embarrassed look now. “I’m also doing this for the team, Aomine-kun,” he says.  
  
Aomine shakes his head disbelievingly. “Wow. I never imagined you had a jealous streak in you!”  
  
“I’m not jealous,” Kuroko insists. “I know there’s nothing between them.”  
  
“Hah, but she kissed Kagami! You can’t pretend that didn’t affect you!” Aomine laughs and ruffles Kuroko’s hair. Kuroko makes an irritated whine before swatting his hand away.  
  
“I want to get stronger,” Kuroko says. “For Seirin. For Kagami-kun, and for me.” He turns and tries to shoot the ball again. It misses, predictably. Kuroko just sighs and goes to fetch the ball once more. “So you have to teach me, Aomine-kun.”  
  
Aomine sighs. “Yeah, I will.” Then he smirks. “So if he ends up being your boyfriend you’ll have to treat me to dinner, okay? Since this is all just a ploy to get him to notice you.”  
  
Kuroko glares at him, and then throws the ball straight at his face.  
  
Ouch.  
  
Ah well, the basketball imprint on his face is worth it. He now has blackmail material on Tetsu. Aomine grins. This is going to be awesome.  



End file.
